MillerTime38

@TC I remember at a lesson a couple years ago asking the boat driver to stop weaving. I told him "Dude, at 38 the handle does not reach the buoy line, I was just 2 feet outside the buoy with the handle" needless to say I did not run a pass after that..... Life lesson, do not show up your boat driver

@Rico great skiing, "I think the ski got me quite far with such a pitiful style :-)" I think it had more to do with the boat driver. Pause when you are behind the boat. Driver is running over boat guides.

@Horton I am not getting grumpy, my posts are sincere and reflect my opinion as a skier that attends nationals every year

@ntx I guess you left out M5 (the biggest group of slalom skiers) for a reason. Your numbers help prove my point (thanks for doing the leg work) the AWSA could not survive with 44% of the current attendence at Nationals. Hence slalom skiers drive the sport

@ELeeski I am sorry my opinion offends you. I am not sure how my comment would seem elitist, it is more of a smart business decision. Would you make more money if 100 more slalom skiers attended or if 50 current slalom skiers chose to do 3 event? I was actually one of the "These guys are great" skiing in the M2 division just before @Webbdawg99

@NTX Just look at the numbers at nationals. How many skiers in the slalom event compared to 3 event skiers? "Maybe put the trick and jump skis on and you can ski three times" I guess this is easy when you live on a a two lake ski site with a jump. The reality is most people do not have this luxury nor the time to dedicate to excelling at all three events. I guess we could all just put trick skis on do a side slide and plop over the jump but who really wants to see that?

The Big Dawg seems to have it figured out so why not format regionals similar to a big dawg qualifier. Make Regionals a two round event and the top % (based on # of participants) qualify for nationals. Then make nationals a two round slalom event and one rd jump and trick. Let's face it slalom skiers drive the sport, but three event still needs to be part of nationals. I would attend regionals and nationals every year if this were the format, but then again I go every year the way it is now...

@Horton I always thought it would be cool to have all of the champions from Nationals ski in a exhibition at Nationals against one another. M1-M? and W1-W? ski against each other and crown a Mens and Womens champion. I know it would be hard logistically since some skiers leave before the other divisions ski and you would have to decide on going by purely buoy count or give a handicap for 36 mph but there could be a way.

@Klindy so why make skiers go to regionals in order to ski at nationals? I never understood this. It is hard enough swallowing a $160 set at nationals, then throw on top a $120 set at regionals along with all the other incurred expenses. This seems like a bad business model, keep charging the skiers more $$ and still no one makes any money. Perhaps it is time to re-evaluate the model.

I am still trying to figure out where all the money goes for Nationals. How much does the LOC make for hosting a Nationals tournament?

@usaski1 you are a true inspiration, keep it up

@LeonL I thought I would stetch my examples just like you stretched yours saying I would take $50 from a cashier that gave me the wrong change. I have been in that situation and corrected the cashier and gave money back, if you were really interested. Also, I found $600 cash in an envelope on my way to school and turned it in the the office when I was in Elementary school. @TylerR I am not sure this sport needs a "culture change". I have fun at all the tournaments I attend and genuinely like everyone (almost) I have met through this sport.

1/4 buoy

@LeonL if you are speeding and you pass a cop do you pull over and ask him to give you a ticket? If you were playing baseball and the umpire called ball 4 and you knew it was a strike do you say "Hey Ump, that was a strike I am going to take a strike out and go to the bench" @RazorRoss3 if everyone saw it than I would say the judges saw it as well. Over the past 5 years I have skied MANY tournaments including 4 Nationals and I have never witnessed a skier call themselves on a missed gate or missed buoy but I have seen plenty of skiers act like they rounded a buoy or miss a gate and keep skiing.

Let the judges make the call and keep skiing. When I am on the water my job is to ski, not be a judge. This has only happened to me once, Towers called 6 and 5, I new the boat judge and she asked me if I got around 6. I was honest and said no, if she would not have asked and called in 6, I would have kept skiing with a clear conscience. After all, if they cut my gates and I know I made the gates what is my recourse? If it is nationals or regionals I can pay $100 for a review but for most tournaments you are done. Skiers ski and judges judge.

@OB unwritten rules? Sounds like baseball. Did anyone else ski with car lights flashing? Why would there be 12 angry skiers, it seems like there should only be one. Maybe if the angry skiers would have not rioted there would not have been such a long delay. Let the judges make their call and move on. @OB comparing slalom skiers to fighter pilots..... Big stretch guys with their lives on the line and guys with their egos on the line

@webbdawg I was wondering what happened. just got to shore turned around and you were in the water. Glad to see D3 took care of you

@OB lets see it

@chef23, pause it at the 1:28 mark. 35 off atttempt you will see your handle is already disconnected and you are riding flat into the 2 ball. In order to counter like @Texas6 is saying you have to get free of the boat. You cannot get free of the boat when you come off the second wake with no handle control

@chef23, it is like the saying "everyone can run 38 on the internet" but substitute 20 pull ups for

@SpartanSki‌ to check the condenser run the boat until it gets warm and acts up, then take the condenser off dip in water to cool and put back. Try to run, if it is the condenser the boat should work again. If not, move on

I have never missed a pass and said "I had too much width if I was a little narrower I would have ran that" Getting a wide gate is only going to help your start to the pass, it will never hurt.

3.25 from the Russian judge. I know for sure she got 3 1/4 but I cannot say 100% she got 3 1/2, that is how they taught me to count buoys The skier is usually traveling faster than the boat on the edge change so the argument that the boat is driving away form her is no good, she is traveling down course faster than the boat. Last time I checked 10.25 meters is just under 4' short of the buoy line. A 5'5" skier with an extra 18" reach and the handle being 1 foot from her hand on the last photo seems to make the 1/4 buoy possible in this situation. Either way unbelievable skiing

@Kfennell if you get a wider gate pullout it will help you accomplish what @Tfin is telling you. If you are wide on your pull out and keep your speed up it will allow you to build more angle through the gate without load. It feels strange at first, but once you get the timing down your golden. When you feel the boat just resist through the gate. Don't add more load! The angle you built on your turn in will be enough. Tell someone to watch how far the rope gets up on the side of the boat. This will help you confirm that you are getting wider.

@Kfennell first thought, narrow gate. Not generating enough speed into one and before the ski finishes the turn you fall over. If you get a wider gate and carry more speed into one it will allow you to finish the turn with more speed and you will not fall over. This may also correct the "no angle" out of the buoy as well.